The life of an unknown genin
by TorMentor
Summary: Konohagakure. Nazo, a genin, has recently graduated from the academy during the 11th year of Naruto's reign as Hokage. This is how he lives. written firstly as part of an RP, now moving into the realm of a full story.
1. Chapter 1

**Act 1: The encounter**

Nazo woke up to birds chirping outside the window. As he looked around with his eyes half open, adjusting to the light, he could not detect where he is. He felt sore, every muscle seemed to hurt, and even blinking was not a comfortable thing to do. _(This looks like a hospital, must've been exhausted after the battle)_. He shuffled himself upwards, resting his back against the bedpost and the wall. _(That's right, I graduated. Where's my headband)_.  
He reached underneath his shirt, but it was gone. _(Where did it go?) _He glanced around the room, looked over at the table on the far side of the room, but all that was there, was his pouch of seeds. He bent sideways to look underneath his bed, holding on to the opposite side, so that he wouldn't fall out of bed._(not here either)_  
Before Nazo could realize it, the floor became the first party to enjoy lip action from Nazo, as he did not have enough power in his arms to hold on to the bed, sending him face-first towards the neatly waxed floor.

"AARGH…. That's it!" Nazo said, twitching one eye slightly.

Nazo got up, scraped his face off the floor, whirlwinded his way through the hospital room – practically rearranging the furniture as if it were a decorating show- looking for his belongings and then headed for the door, with his pouch as the only thing he found.  
Reaching for the door knob, the door suddenly smashed open, crashing Nazo against the wall, between the door and the hallway wall.

Unknown: "Oh dear, our patient seems to have left." As the door swung closed again, revealing Nazo pinned to the wall, his face on the door. Feeling his way to the door, he retrieved his face, twitched his eye a bit more…

Nazo: …

Unknown: "my my, that must've hurt… Luckily, you're in the right place for that" and she smiled at him.

Nazo looked at her, she was probably a couple of years older than he was and judging by her clothes, she was an intern at the hospital. She was holding on a couple of sheets, She wasn't that ugly to look at though: a pair of glasses to hide her eyes behind, purple hair that was pinned up with a hair-comb. A few hairs escaped the comb, giving her that "special" something.

Unknown: "I said ..are you okay?"

Shaken to reality by her voice, Nazo said: Listen lady, all I want to know, is where my stuff is. It's very precious to me, and it's all I want to know actually.

Unknown: There there, that's not very polite. I was merely checking to see you were uninjured. You could at least answer my inquiry about your wellbeing?

Nazo: I appreciate the concern, but I really just want my stuff. I'll be fine, it's not the first, just like last time, just a little worse. You can't seem to help me though, so I'll be going to find someone who can.

Nazo turned around and once again headed for the door, feeling his face to check whether his nose had not turned into a huge cauliflower from the two hits in 10 seconds.

Behind his back, the lady changed her friendly appearance. Her smile disappeared; she now looked menacing that even Nazo could feel it, although he was not facing her. A chilling wind entered through the window, sending a shiver down Nazo's back.

Unknown: That is NOT how you treat a lady, you know. You do NOT turn your back to a lady, understood?

Nazo tried to act cool as he kept strolling towards the door, looking sideways, so he could catch a glimpse of her in the corner of his eye. As soon as she had caught his eye, he stopped his movement. "Lo-look lady, I-I didn't mean to insult you…honestly". Nazo noticed the sheets flapping in his direction, guided by the wind, as if they were the train of a wedding gown placed on the wrong side of the bride. In the meantime, those few strands of hair seem to move like daisies in the wind. The mysterious lady seemed to pierce Nazo with her eyes, making Nazo unsure where to look and what to say.

"Hey, look at that…isn't it a lovely day outside…I think I'll go enjoy the sun" Nazo tried.

unknown: GET BACK IN BED, NOW!

Before Nazo could protest, his legs had already carried him into the bed and he had shuffled himself back underneath the blanket, and put his head back on the pillow.

After the wind subsided, the lady went over to the table, picking up the pouch Nazo dropped in his cartoonish move back to his bed, placed the sheets on the table, alongside the pouch.

"In case you're feeling a bit chilly at night" she smiled as she walked to the door.

As soon as she had opened the door, Nazo, clamping his blanket, looked over his shoulder, apologetic. "I'm sorry lady. I'm really attached to that headband…well, to both now that I've passed the academy. Shouldn't have taken it out on you. Sorry."

The girl stood still, looked at Nazo with a sense of calm over her. Then she tilted her head slightly, put an enchanting smile as she squinted her eyes and raised her shoulders and said "it's okay. Everyone goes through life as they please" and she left.

Nazo stared at the door a bit, thinking that it was a really weird thing that just happened. _(if every day is going to be like this, I'm going to lose more than my face)_.

Suddenly, a head popped back into the room. "Oh, by the way"

- "AAAAAARGH"

My name is Tairaki Moui. I'll be your nurse while you stay here, this is my floor, so be sure to shout if you need something.  
She winked and whizzed back out.

_(thank god I'm in the hospital already, that girl is going to give me a heart attack)_. While Nazo thought this, he smiled. "Don't worry…Tairaki. I'll be a good patient now" he muttered almost inaudibly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Act 2: Proposition  
**  
Nazo was dreaming about flying across the city, in a blue suit with silly red shorts, while screaming "here he comes to save the day", when he felt a light falling on his eyelids. The light didn't feel like the shimmering of water or light falling through the trees and hitting his eyes, but more something like a sunray trying to penetrate his eyelids. As he slowly opened his left eye, trying to find the source of the annoying light, he noticed Tairaki sitting in the chair next to the table.

Nazo: "hey, knock that out, it's annoying and I was having such a funny dream"

Tairaki giggled. "I noticed, you were humming some weird song about saving the day. So how's my favourite patient of room 316?"

Nazo felt a bit uncomfortable _(wow, her favourite patient of this room)_ when he suddenly realized that he was the ONLY patient in the room.

"He-" But Tairaki wouldn't let him finish his protest.

"Because, if you are feeling any better, I want to take you somewhere" as she continued to reflect the sun into his eyes.

"whe-where do you wan- KNOCK IT OFF, stop shining that thing into my eyes!"

Tairaki giggled and threw it onto Nazo's bed. "I think you might actually like it".  
Nazo held his hands in a cup-like position, hoping it would be some silver-wrapped candy, because the food in the hospital…well, Nazo had had better food. When it landed in his hands, Nazo's eyes grew several inches as he was profoundly shocked by what he saw. (_this can't be._)  
Glimmering in his hand were the two headbands he had gathered. One from his dad, and the other one from the academy. They had ingeniously been put together. A piece of black and white cloth had been sewn together, and each colour had received a headband, making it a perfect circle.

Tairaki: "Hope you like it, I thought I'd make it into 1 thing, so that your past will be tied to your future"

- "Wow….simply wow. Thank you very much." Nazo thought about the way he behaved last time. "Now I feel even worse about my reaction last time"

Tairaki: "Don't worry about it."

Nazo thought about where to wear the headbands and decided it would be a good idea to wear it around his neck. Then the headbands would not only provide clear and visible proof that he's a shinobi, they would also shelter his neck from harm from both sides.

Tairaki: "Tee-hee…. Thinking like a shinobi already. Using the headbands as a protective measure. Smart."

Nazo was surprised at her response, wondering how she knew what he was thinking. "You're not some sort of voodoo-mind reader-thingamajig person, are you?"

Tairaki raised one eyebrow and frowned upon Nazo, immediately making him feel tiny and puny. "Maybe you're not the only person who's a shinobi here."

"So you're one as well?" Nazo asked.

Tairaki immediately start swinging her hands from left to right, while frantically gesturing "no" with her head. "It's just…many shinobi have landed in this hospital, and I've seen quite a few in the past months. They've all kept their shinobi ways and always kept thinking how they could use everything to their advantage…well, except for the dead ones of course"

Nazo shivered at that last part. (_She surely has a morbid sense of saying it like it is_)

Undisturbed by how Nazo gazed at her, Tairaki further explained that the room they were in, had certain features that a shinobi would probably already have noticed. Nazo had to admit to himself that he hadn't thought about all this that meticulously.

Tairaki: "The door for example: It's obvious that standing behind that door reveals a blind spot for anyone entering this room. I'm sure you've also noticed, looking out the window, that we have a rather large garden and a glasshouse where we grow fruits, vegetables and flowers and such".

Nazo shied away from looking at Tairaki when he realized he hadn't noticed about any of those things. He was too busy dreaming, thinking about his headbands and Tairaki's frightening first encounter.

Tairaki noticed she was telling him things he hadn't discovered by himself.

"Hey, don't worry, no one expects a freshly graduated academy student to have the same skills as a veteran shinobi". She tried to comfort him with those words and it seemed to work, as Nazo managed to put on a little smile.

"Let's hope you have more skills than the dead ones, right?" she giggled. Nazo's eye twitched again (_AAARGH…thanks lady, that's very comforting…_).

"Well, let me help you on your way while you're recuperating. That pouch you have there, is it for seeds or something?"  
- "yeah, I got it from my parents, it's the only tangible memory I still have"  
"As I thought. Well, that's why I actually came and that's what my proposition is all about: why don't you pay a visit to the glasshouse when you're up for it? I'll gladly show you around, and maybe you could do some work there to help me out?"  
- "Sure!" Nazo said. "Maybe I could find some interesting things there, thanks a lot Tairaki." Nazo pulled away his sheets and jumped out of bed, bending through his legs slightly and holding his two hands - gathered in a fist - in front of his body. (_All right, I ran out of herbs during the academy fight, maybe I can restock there._)

Tairaki stood up with a bashful glow on her face and a tiny smile as she walked to the door.  
"Meet me there in the afternoon."  
- "Why can't I go now? I'm all psyched up."  
As tactfully as she could, Tairaki said: "Oh, I just thought you might want to have those sheets cover you up or something because you won't be able to go out dressed like that"

Nazo looked down and noticed he only had on a shirt and a cute little underpants with a little piglet as a print on it. (_AAAAAAAAAARGH, crap!_) As swiftly and casually as he could – hey, it's never a bad thing to still try to keep your cool with a lady around -, he tried to say "oh, you're probably right" and pushing his shirt down to cover up his crown jewels while shifting closer and closer to his bed.

"Well, I'm off now" Tairaki said as she closed the door. Nazo hoped she hadn't seen whatever he didn't want her to see. Unfortunately, Nazo could hear Tairaki yelling to the other nurses: "Hey, guess what I've just seen". Nazo felt all the shame of the world enter his body, as he dropped his head and sighed.

(_This is going to be a long, shameful day_)


	3. Chapter 3

**Act 3: Weeding out the tares**

Nazo impatiently waited for the afternoon to start. He looked out the window, staring at Tairaki working in the glasshouse where she was cutting flowers. She looked cute, occasionally stopping to move through her hair and sweep a bit of hair back behind her ear. And the hair that managed to get away and returned to hinder her eyesight was casually blown up by a gust of wind leaving her lips.

Nazo was startled by the clock. (_12 o'clock, that's the afternoon for me_) Nazo rushed away from the window and almost flew towards the door.

Nazo immediately came to a full-stop, looked down and he sighed a breath of relief as he did have his pants on this time. He opened the door, walked down the corridor, and down the first flight of steps. He dwindled down the stairs until he reached the main floor. He hurried down the hall and slowed down as he passed the reception (_right, I can't run inside the hospital_). The moment one of the nurses behind the mahogany desk noticed Nazo passing, she immediately turned her head over to her colleague next to her. She raised her left hand to her mouth, placing the back of the hand right next to the right hand side of her mouth, in an attempt to cover her lip movements from being read by Nazo approaching from the right.

Nazo noticed that they were talking about him, as the colleague listened and then looked up to catch a glimpse of him. (_Why are they talking about me…did someone draw a silly thing on my face?_)  
The two nurses started to giggle as Nazo past the counter and walked towards the steps leading to the garden. He could hear them talking about his underwear. (_Tairaki!_)

Nazo steamed with rage that she told everyone in the hospital. He looked back only to notice that the two nurses had called out a third nurse who was back in the office. Nazo glared at them. (_What do they think I am, some sort of attraction to behold? That ONE time I do something stupid and it's going to haunt me_).

The thoughts barely left his brain or Nazo felt another painful moment in the making. Time seemed to stand still as Nazo felt around with his foot for a bearing. (_Nope, no ground there._) Nazo immediately tried to stretch out his hand to get a hold of the railing besides the steps. But however slow the moment seemed to pass, his hands moved even slower. (_Oh well, let's just get ready for the humiliation and the pain. TIMBER_) The next moment, Nazo was laying flat on the pathway that divided the garden and lead up to the stairs he just fell down from.

He peeled his face off the floor (_this is getting familiar_) and did not even look behind him, as he could just hear them roaring with laughter. (_They're probably aching as well, stomach ache from all the laughter sigh_) Nazo decided he would not give them the opportunity to look at his face, so he slid across the pathway sideways so that his face would remain invisible to the nurses at all time. As soon as he had turned the corner and was out of sight, he let go: "AAAAAAAARGH…grmbl, and I'll have to face them again when I go back to my room….well face them…I won't have much to face them with if I keep falling like this".

In the meantime, Nazo arrived at the glasshouse and knocked on the glass door, waiting to enter. Tairaki looked up from her work, gently smiled – as always – and waved him in. As soon as Nazo entered, the scent of a thousand roses, mixed with lavender and rosemary surrounded him, making it seem he was on a sunny hill in a magical land called "California" or something like that.

"Well well, aren't we anxious to get started? It's only 12.05 and you're here already. Tee-hee, seems like you rushed too…. Which surface got the pleasure of meeting your face this time?"

Nazo sniffed and raised one eyebrow "Attempting humour? When will women learn…."

"Oooh, a defensive jab because your pride is hurt" Tairaki giggled.

Nazo chose to ignore the attempts to tease him. "What can I do around here?"

"well, my young padawan… it just sounded like a funny word, I just made it up … You can go to the herb patch over there, you're probably most at ease over there. And they offer a soft landing in case something does go wrong".

Nazo had to restrain himself from not going "aaaargh" again as he passed Tairaki on his way to the herb patch in the back. Tairaki softly said "Hey, I'm just teasing you, you know" when Nazo passed behind her.

"I know, I know, just don't know what to say back" Nazo admitted and he patted her on the shoulder. "If you need me, just holler and I'll be right here….unless I fall on the way over" (_I'd better make this joke before she does it_).

Tairaki nodded and continued cutting flowers. (_see, that shut her up, hehe_). Nazo walked on towards the desk in front of the herb patch.

There was a moment of silence.

Suddenly, a taunting phrase was uttered.

"Watch out for the floor though, it's extremely flat" and giggled as she hummed a tune during her work.

- (_AAAAAAAAARGH, that woman…one day, I'll trip her!_)

Drips of sweat fell down from Nazo's forehead as he had worked the entire time to weed out all the tares from the herb field. He finally stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He then stretched his arms into the air, holding them together and fell back a bit to completely stretch all his limbs.

He turned to see where Tairaki was, but she had already vacated her spot and was nowhere to be found. Nazo decided he would go and look for her, as he did not know what to do next. He left the glasshouse and looked left and right for a clue.

"Over here"

Nazo stepped to the side of the glasshouse and saw Tairaki sitting against the building, with a straw hat on and enjoying the setting sun.

"Come and sit next to me," she gestured while patting the place Nazo could sit. Nazo took a seat on the ground with one leg stretched on the ground and the other drawn up halfway.

"You did pretty well; you worked hard to turn that herb patch back into shape. It was needed; it has been neglected for quite a while now. D'you have any skills with herbs or something?"

- "My mother and father, they were into all plants and trees and stuff. I kind of got it from them. That's why I carry that pouch, to use whatever seeds and herbs that I've gotten to know inside out over the years. A gift from my parents."

Tairaki listened carefully, with both legs suspended close to her body while she clutches both knees in a hugging position. "Yeah, you told me about it the other time. That's nice. It's nice that you have such fond memories of your parents. That's why I wanted to do something else for you."

- "Oh?"

Tairaki grabbed a book that was laying beside her, and gave it to Nazo. It was a book on herbs.

"You can use it better than I can. The patch of herbs is now your responsibility, okay?". Nazo was again surprised at Tairaki's generosity.

- "Thank you Tairaki, thank you once again."

That's okay, she smiled. "Now it has a use and it'll help you as a shinobi." Tairaki got up and walked away. "I'm going home, my work for today is done. I'll see you tomorrow" and she rushed out the front gate, waving as she went.

Nazo waved back, still waving even after she left. "THANK YOU," he yelled. He got up and headed back for the door as he kept flipping the book. (_pretty interesting book I must sa_y)

From the minute his foot touched the pathway, generating a different sound than walking on the grass, Nazo felt that eerily sensation of those two nurses waiting at the front desk like vulture waiting for a carcass. (_gadzooks, those two again…sigh I don't want to go past them again… If only I could skip past them without them seeing me_)

Nazo pondered.

"maybe…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Act 4: Trading places**

Nazo moved towards the front of the steps but kept close to the wall so that the nurses would not see them. (_let's see, I can only kawarimi with something rather close and with a rather large size. And they're only nurses, they won't know what has happened when I kawarimi past them._)

Nazo measured the distance to the nurses. He knew he had to use 5 steps (_equivalent to 1 fall…sigh that Tairaki…her sense of humour is getting to me…sigh_) to reach the top of the stairs and then another 5 meter before he was right in front of the desk. That was not kawarimi-able. (_darn, it's too far. I'll have to test the ultimate limit of my current kawarimi-use_).

Nazo looked around to see which object could help him get where he wanted to faster and which also allowed him to test his limit. His eye fell on a huge plant, decorating the otherwise dull and white hallway. (_now…let's see_)

KAWARIMI NO JUTSU

(_… a bit too far apparently_)

Nazo eased one step closer and tried again, failing again. He repeated the same tactic for another couple of times before it actually succeeded. He now stood on the opposite wall, but not a step closer to getting past those childish nurses. He waited patiently for an opportunity as he gazed around the welcoming area for an object he could use. (_That water cooler would be possible, that standing clock as well, what to choose what to choose_)

Nazo was eeny-miny-mooing between the clock and the water cooler when a male nurse passed the desk with a huge box in his arms, walking towards the stairway he needed to get to his heavenly bed. (_Oh, this might actually be fun and training at the same time. Let's just try whether we can pull this off_)

Nazo waited until the nurse passed out of view to start his manoeuvre (_timing has to be exact; otherwise this will be another embarrassing moment. Luckily Tairaki isn't here_). He looked at his watch to see the exact time he started everything.

KAWARIMI NO JUTSU

Nazo poofed away, and appeared where the water cooler used to be. He quickly looked to his right and saw the male nurse walking on. (_Damn, move faster Nazo_) Nazo quickly gathered everything necessary to perform another body replacement.

KAWARIMI NO JUTSU

He now found himself in the hands of the male nurse while the box wiggled a bit as it got placed in front of the wall and next to the desk. "Hello"

The male nurse had no idea what had happened and was overwhelmed by the added weight Nazo created. As the nurse fell forwards, Nazo performed yet another to move further down the hall.

KAWARIMI NO JUTSU

Nazo had now switched places with a chair that was arranged there for visitors. Meanwhile, the male nurse, while holding a chair, had a date with the floor.

Nazo couldn't suppress a giggle as the nurse crashed to the floor (_I know how you feel bubba….but still, that was funny!_) and then kawarami'd again to reach the stairs.

KAWARIMI NO JUTSU

As Nazo reached his destination, he looked at his watch and turned around to overlook the damage he had done. He tried to count how many steps each kawarimi had overcome between the box and the nurse, the nurse and the chair, and the chair and yet another plant. (_Not too bad, 4 kawarimis to pass the entire hall in about 8 seconds. Now I've got a time to beat and a distance to beat._)

Nazo felt a bit proud, but that feeling quickly escaped his body when he heard the two nurses scream because of the interior re-decorating someone (_hihi_) had done. Nazo immediately ran up the stairs and went to his room, where he ducked under the covers and couldn't wait to do all of this again when he went back to the glasshouse tomorrow morning.


	5. Chapter 5

**Act 5: Now you see me…**

After a good night's sleep, Nazo woke up, yawned while stretching his arms over his head and looked at the clock. (_8.30, a good a time as any to start working_)  
Nazo got up and got dressed in a matter of seconds. He looked out the window and noticed it was sunny already. (_outside training it is_)

Nazo smiled. He ran down the hall, down the steps, changed to a quickened step, the kind of step that would make every lifeguard at the pool go "_hey hey, no running_" anyway, as he approached the front desk. He could see the two nurses starting to giggle already, but he didn't slow down, he smiled back as he noticed a kid in front of the desk.

KAWARIMI NO JUTSU

Within a flash, he switched places with the small kid, who had no idea where he was, talking to the water cooler all of a sudden. Nazo now found himself in front of the two nurses, but he had ducked down, so they couldn't see him. He could hear them saying "_where did he go? Did he turn into that child?_" Nazo giggled. He then did a HENGE NO JUTSU turning his face into that of a Samoan warrior performing the haka with tattoos and tongue hanging out.

The young genin then jumped up and yelled "BIG WARRIOR FACE OF DOOM!"

Two screams could be heard all over Konoha, dogs howled along, while babies cried their pants full.  
As the cardiac facility had now received two new patients, Nazo confidently walked out, with a smile on his face from one ear to the other ear.

Nazo stepped out of the front gate, wandered around in the town and tried to find his way to the weapons store. After a tiring search of half an hour, he ended up on the same street he left on, staring at the "weapons store HERE"-sign (_… ………..sigh, why do you mock me?…_)

Within 2 minutes, he was outside again, with a shopping bag full of goodies: 10 kunai, 5 metsubishi, 20 ft of wire, 10 exploding notes, a pouch and a kunai holster). He looked back at the store and grunted for having lost half an hour locating it.

As soon as he returned to the hospital grounds, he went back up to his room, placed everything neatly on the table, in alphabetical order because that's how mommy arranged the cabinets as well. He then returned outside with the book Tairaki gave him, in his hand. Along his route, he took every plant with him, running in and out of the building several times to get all the big plants he needed.

He then started to place the plants several feet from each other, with each plant just a bit further than the previous one. (_This is quite the workout, who would've thought these plants weighed this much_). From the front of the lawn to the back of the lawn, just in front of the glasshouse, now stood 5 plants, gently waving in the wind and enjoying their ever-slow reach for the sun.

Nazo prepared himself and now stood several feet away from the first plant. (_let's see how far we get_). Three kawarimi's down the line, Nazo couldn't go on any more as the fourth seemed to be a bit too far. (_hmm, should I pull it closer to clear all five at once, or should I go back and keep trying until I can make this jump?_) As he raised his head to the sky while squinting his eyes slightly, he heard a familiar voice.

Tairaki: "What are you doing? Thinking? You've broken your face quite a few times already; don't add your brain to that list"

(_TAIRAKI_) With his head slightly between his shoulders, fumes coming from his ears and his eyes bloodshot with rage, he turned around.

Nazo: YOU…YO-

Just as Nazo wanted to say something extremely clever, his eyes fell on something peculiar about Tairaki today. He checked to see what it was. It wasn't her face, she's still smiling as lovely as always (_the vixen!_). He went down to continue his search for the special thing he noticed. He passed her chest (_hello there! wink wink_) but sensing a small wind which reminded him of his room-encounter he quickly continued the search. Suddenly he saw two hairy little bundles hiding behind her back, occasionally peeking from behind her.

"Oh, I see you've brought your cute friends"

"That's right" said Tairaki. "why don't you two come and say hello, come on now, don't be shy".  
unknown: "Don't push me! Leave me alone!"  
Suddenly, a small girl, about 10 years old, appeared. Black hair, blue eyes and a flowery dress on. She glared at the other one and then she put on her best smile and said "hi ya".

Tairaki introduced both of them. "That's Mabui. And the one acting tough is Kamereon". She then stepped to the side and Nazo saw Kamereon giggling because Mabui had to show herself. As soon as Tairaki moved away, his giggle stopped and he didn't know what to do, moving his hands from in front of his body to his pockets, then through his hair, behind his back, eventually sitting down and looking around and then looking at Nazo "what are YOU looking at?"

Nazo looked at the young boy, guessing his age would be around 12 to 13. "You look even worse than I do, and I've fallen down quite a lot. What happened to you then?" (_mwuhahaha, now I have someone to badger, pesky little teenager_)

Nazo had not even finished his sentence or he felt a downward sensation.

Nazo: "AAAAAAAAAARGH…. Get the hell off me!"

Both Tairaki and Mabui giggled.

"You shouldn't have said that, Kamer will deck you and you won't even know what hit you", Mabui commented.

Nazo lay beaten on the floor, with Kamer sitting on top of him.

Kamer: "Say you're sorry"!  
Nazo:"FAT CHANCE, baby"

Nazo performed a kawarimi with the first plant, a cactus.

There!  
- OUTCH!  
Let's cut it out, I want to train, nothing more, so if we could stop this already.  
- Hmpf, training, you big wuss, you can't even see ME coming, what are you going to do in real battle?

Nazo stood amazed at the poignant remark the little boy made.

Tairaki stepped in to stop the childish bickering between the two.

"Now now, boys, that's enough, let's call it quits for today. Kamer, you come with me, we have to go get you checked out. Mabui, you run along home now, you're done."

"Ok, Tairaki, thank you very much for today! See ya later, mister!" Mabui skipped out of the garden as Kamer sped away into the hospital without saying a word.

"don't mind him, tough on the outside, cute on the inside, a bit like….well…"  
Nazo waited for the first positive remark Tairaki was about to make (_wow, I've got to remember this one_).  
"well…a bit like…me"  
Nazo's jaw dropped to the floor (_that woman…_). In the meanwhile, Tairaki winked and left.

Nazo shook his head (_bah, don't think about it too much, just continue with your training_). He picked up the plant and placed it back in its original position and started his training again. The entire morning and afternoon, Nazo performed the same trick, kawarimi-until-he-couldn't-anymore. He then rested against the wall, flicking little rocks against the tree or reading in the herbs book, until he felt he could start again. This lasted the entire day.

At the end of an exhausting day, he was resting again, when Tairaki came out and walked up to him. "so? How is it going with the training, mr. shinobi?"

"not so good, still can't manage to pass that 4th kawarimi because it's too far off," he said with a clear disappointment in his voice.

"hehe, not all things in life happen overnight you know. Practice makes perfect, you know. Now, give it a rest for tonight. Enjoy your night of sleep and just keep going as you're doing now. It'll work"

Nazo did not hear her inspiring words as he had already dozed off and gone nighty-night.

Tairaki sighed: "boys…never know when to stop".

Tairaki signalled a couple of nurses to come with a stretcher and bring Nazo back to his room.

"Sleep tight, Nazo"


End file.
